Fast Retailing Co., which produces the Uniqlo brand of casual clothing, is pushing to create a dominant presence in the Chinese casual clothing market, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.
According to a development plan revealed by Fast Retailing President Tadashi Yanai, 50 Uniqlo franchise stores will be established in China over the next three years, Xinhua said.
The news agency added that Fast Retailing eventually plans to establish more Uniqlo stores in China than there are in Japan.
China will become the largest consumer nation in the world within the next decade, Yanai was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
"Judging from global industrial trends, Japan's fiber industry will keep declining while China, the world's largest fiber production base and exporter of fiber products, will remain an ideal place where our enterprises can seek further development," Yanai reportedly said.
The company will set up two franchise stores in Shanghai at the end of September, seeking to become the largest retailer of casual clothing in the city.
Fast Retailing eventually hopes to be the most well-known and profitable company operating in the Chinese casual clothing market, Xinhua said.
International recognition of the Uniqlo brand is partly attributable to Fast Retailing's long cooperation with Chinese enterprises, Yanai was quoted as saying.
Apart from initial brand design, nearly 90 percent of Uniqlo products are manufactured in China, according to Xinhua adding that Fast Retailing has established 70 clothing joint ventures and more than 300 clothing processing factories there.